Sceaux Gardens
Sceaux Gardens is a major and much-celebrated council estate in the Camberwell area of the London Borough of Southwark, London. The estate was constructed on land at the junction of Peckham Road and Southampton Way in the grounds of Camberwell House, a group of historic buildings then being used as council offices. The estate was named after the town of Sceaux, near Paris, with which Camberwell had links. The estate is now partly protected by the Sceaux Gardens Conservation Area, which centres on the 18th and 19th century buildings near Peckham Road. Plans for the estate were approved by Camberwell Metropolitan Borough Council in 1957 as a showcase development by the Metropolitan Borough Council's architect's department under the direction of F. O. Hayes. The architect in charge was H. P. Trenton and the consultant structural engineer was W. V. Zinn. The plans for the estate included the construction of two 15 storey tower blocks surrounded by four 6 storey blocks of maisonettes and a single 6 storey block of one bedroom flats. Two rows of single storey homes for the elderly were also constructed at a later date. All buildings were built by Laing. Initial plans for the estate proposed taller building, although the Ministry of Housing and Local Government intervened and demanded a reduction in height. Design and construction The 15 storey blocks sit on the eastern and western sides of the estate on a north-south axis. They are 41ft wide and 187ft long. The basic structure of these blocks consists of 7 inch reinforced concrete cross walls at intervals of 11ft 6in with 4.5in thick floor and roof slabs. The ground floors are left open through the width of the building, with the lifts and staircases rising from the open areas. The louvred lift and staircase core is integrated into the building. Access to the maisonettes is provided by internal corridors on alternate floors, chosen for their privacy that access balconies do not provide. The walls of the corridors are constructed from 5in think lightweight concrete blocks, whereas most of the partitions in the tower blocks are made from plasterboard. The maisonettes in the 15 storey blocks consisted of two bedrooms, living room-kitchen and bathroom. The bedrooms and bathroom are located on the lower floor, with a staircase leading from the hallway to the open plan living and kitchen area which spans the width of the block on the floor above. There is access either end to an escape balcony. A chimney to the boiler house at Lakanal House stands directly adjacent to the block. The layout of the maisonettes is reversed in the 6 storey blocks, with the kitchen and living area on the lower level and the bedrooms above. The single storey flats and houses are two bedroomed. Construction of the 6 storey blocks and single storey houses is loadbearing brick with concrete roof and floors. With the exception of the lift shaft, the concrete surfaces were untreated. The mature trees and paths of the area prior to the estate were retained and incorporated into a series of squares around the estate. The use of natural elements and high quality landscaping materials at the time made it a particularly celebrated developments, with the trees softening the use of concrete. Tower blocks The two 15 storey tower blocks are: *Lakanal House *Marie Curie House Category:Housing estates in London Category:Southwark